George h



A G. H. Fox.

Breech Loading Fire Arm.l

No. 98,579.V Patented Jany 4,1870.

50 lvwentor.' 550s.' Y 0%? tlnitrd tant @sind @Wina Letters `Patent No.98,579, dated January 4, 1870.

IMPROVEMENT IN -BREECH-LOADING- FIRE-ARMS who- The Schedule referred toin these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

' To all whom 'it may concern Beit known that I, Geenen H. FOX, ofBoston, in the county of Suffolk, and State of Massachusetts, haveinvented Improvements in Breecl1-Loading Fire- Arms; and I do herebydeclare that the. following; taken in connection with the drawings,which accompa'ny and form part of this specification, is a descriptionof my invention, suicient toenable those skilled in the art to practiseit.

This invention relates to improvements by which the barrelsofdouble-barrelledguns are vibrated to one side or the other, (preferablyto the right at the rear,) for the purpose of opening the barrels at thebreech, to insert or extractlfixed ammunition, orto eX- tract the emptyshells, the barrels being brought back and locked securely inline fortiring, by movement in a reversed direction.

If the barrels were hung on a fixedpivot in the plane of the: rightline, connecting them to the stock, the rear or breech-end and thebreech-block would have tov be made as arcs of circles, which would notit the plane surfaces of the ends of cartridge-shells, now in commonuse, and if they were connected to a pivot or pivots, on which thebarrels turned, such pivot or pivots, to cause the rear of the barrels'to move forward sufficiently to clear the breech attached to the stock,would have to be located outside of the smooth symmetrical outline ofth'e gun, and would make inconvenient and unsightly protuberancesbeneath the barrels.

Now, myinvention consists in a gun, so constructed that the barrels canhe moved to open and close the breech, by a sidewise vibration from apoint of vibration or oscillation outside ofthe outline of the stock;but instead of being guided by an actual pivot, fixed at said point, thebarrels are guided and controlled, in the side vibrations oroscillations given them, by pins working in grooves, made concentricwith a centre outside of the outline of the gun, which centre is shownon the drawings, and may be termed au imaginary centre, because of theabsence of an actual pin `0r pivot at the centre point; and

My invention further consists in details, herein set forth, connectedwith the operation of the extractor.

Figure 1,0f the drawings, shows, in plan, those parts of a gun embodyingmy invention, the position being that in which the parts are inreadiness for explosion of the charges. v

Figure 2 is a plan of the same, with the parts in position for theinsertion of full, or the withdrawal of full or empty shells. In saidview, a shell is shown only in the right-hand barrel.

Figure 3 is a vertical longitudinal section, taken in the cent-ral planebetween the barrels, -and showing the parts in position for explosion ofthe charges.

is attached is made with a plate,.b, integral with the breech c,extending under the rear of the barrels.

In the plate b are cut grooves d and e, concentric with a centre at j,which is located, as seen in figs. 1, 2, and 4, .outside of the outlineof the stock.

'In the barrel-plate a are fixed two pins, g and it,

the piu g being `preferably made to screw into the plate a, and having ahead, which fits under the plate b,`the slot d being enlarged at the endmost remote from the breech, to pass the pin g. into and out ofthegroove d. a

The pin It enters and traverses the groove c, and, by abutting againstthe right-hand end of said groove, limits the movement ofthe barrels tothe right.

Adjacent to. the breech c, a depression is made, having one boundary t',concentric with the centre j, and a projection,j, is iixed to the platea, at its rear, having one boundary or edge coincident with the boundaryt' of the depression just referred to.

The head of g keeps the plates 'a and b in close contact, and to keepthe overhanging end of the barrels from tipping downward, when thebarrels are brought into line for tiring, the piece j may be extended asa lip, as shown, to the rear of the barrels, to engage in a groove madein the face of the lower part oi' the breech, or the piece j may bebevelled, on its circularv edge, to tpa similarsnitable bevelling, whichmay be given the outline t'.

The cartridge-extractor is a simple slide, with its rear end formed tosurround a portion of the shells, when placed in the barrels, said end,when the barrels are in position for firing, being embedded in asuitablerecess formed in the rear end of the barrels. This end isdenoted by It, andthe shank or slide, which is fitted in a groove madein the plate a, is marked l, and is made as a spring, the yielding endof which is enlarged, as seen in iig. 5, to prevent its accidentalwithdrawal, and is provided with a pin, m, which moves in, and is withthe extractor, moved by traversing the slot n, formed, as shown in fig.4, as cut in plate b.

l When, in swinging the barrels to the right, pin m strikes against theextreme right-hand boundary of the slot n, said pin forms a check tofurther righthand movement of the barrels, and in that position, shownin iig. 2, the rear of the barrels clears the breech sniciently forextraction cr insertion ot" car tridges.

In moving the barrels to said position, the action ofpin h in slot e hasserved to draw the' barrels forward away from the breech, and the pin gwill be in the slot d, in the position shown in fig. 2.

In closing the rear of the barrels, the projection j, acting against theoutline fi, acts with the pin h and slot c in drawing the rear of thebarrels rmly` to the breech.

When the parts'are in the position shown in iig. 2, thecartridgeextractor canbe'pnshed'home, with its rear flush with the rearof the barrels, the pin m then moving iu-the part o of the groove n, andas the barrels are brought back into line, the pin lm, which is inclinedor bevelled on its end, rides up on the bevelled or inclined inner sideof the slot a, and passing over the surface of the plate b, springs backinto the slot n, near the left-hand end thereof, in readiness to pushthe extractor and cartridges rearward, when the barrels are next swungoutward.

When it is desirable to detach the barrels from the ,stockthe lingers ofthe right hand conveniently elevate the springend of the extractor, whenthe barrels -are in position seen in fig. 2,4and then the barrels can beswung further to the right,rtill pin h touches the right-hand end ofslot c, which will have the effect tov niove forward the barrels, andwill bring the head of pin g to the enlarged end of slot d, from whichthe pin can then be lifted,'and the barrels will then be free from thestock.

To replace the barrels, drop the pin gin the enlarged part of the slotd, and piuh in slot e, and move the rear of the' barrels to the left,raising the springend of the extractor, so that pin fm will pass overthe plate b into the slot n o. ,N

To lock the barrels in position "for firing, any suitable means may beemployed, those seen in fig. 3 auswering as well as any.

In the projection j, orin the rearof the-barrels, a notch, p, is cut,'inwhich aspring-iatch holt, q, catches on the exposed roughened end oflever r.

A gun made and operating as described is simple, cheap, efective, andnot apt to get out of order.

I claim- 1. A gun, in which the barrels are Iliade movable on the stockto the right or left, and forward andback, for the purpose of openingand closing the' breech, for loading, unloading, or extracting emptyshells, when the movement is controlled by the action of pins orprojections within or on curved boundaries struck from an imaginarycentre, and without employment of a pivot at such centre.

2. The means for operating the extractor, consisting substantially of ayielding or spring sliding shank, provided with a pin, gearing in theslot n o, the pin or the slot, or both, being bevelled for the purposedescribed.

GEO. H. FOX.

Witnesses:

FRANCIS GoULD, S. B. KIDDER.

andrholds, until retracted by the action of the thumb Y

